this morning on "early today," high stakes battle. senate republicans vow to put up a fight over president obama's tax plan. great ball of fire, new video surfaces of the gas explosion that leveled a california neighborhood. and eye of the storm. nasa provides an incredible bird's-eye view of hurricane nasa provides an incredible bird's-eye view of hurricane igor. captions paid for by nbc-universal televisi hello and good morning. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with the battle over taxes. senate republicans vowed to block president obama's plan to cut middle class taxes yterday unless bush era reductions for the wealthy are also preserd. this economic debate has been heating up for months now. and on this final primary day before nember's midterm electrics, it could reach a boiling point. tracy potts joins us live now

from council. good morning, acy. big day. >> it's going to be a big week and a big season headed into these elections as congress figures out whether or not to extend these bush taxuts that are expiring at the end of the year. coming out of the weekend, republican leader john boehner who had been very critical of the president's plan signaled that he might support it order to get something done before these tax cuts expires. but all hopes of a compromise were dashed when his pay came out strongly yesterday and said that these tax cuts must be preserved for everyone, the poor, the mile class and, yes, the wealthy, those who make over $250,000. his party is not the only group that supports that we now know of least three democrats who say, look, this is the wrong time with our economy still not on good footing to raise taxes. we need to preserve these tax cuts for everyone. so it's a fight not only against

republicans, but against some members of the democric party, as well. lynn. >> tracy potts for us in washington. tracy, thank you. and across the country, american voters will be back in the polls todayn the last major lineup of primary races before november's midterm electrics. and there are eight races with the most of the focus on the p and the battle between party regulators and newcomers from the tea party. among the hot matchups, delaware senate race. mainstream republicans there looking to avoid another tea party win and they are making a big push for nine term representative mike cassle. until recently, he was favored over christine o'donnell, but now she's got t backing of former vice presidential candidate sarah palin as well as the tea party. delaware regulators hope to avoid a replayf the stunning alaska victory in the content.

another race to watch, that's new hampshire's senate primary. ovit la mon tang is in a battle with kelly iodie. she now appears to be facing stiff competition. although ao did i e has the blessing of palin. and for the democrats, new york representative charles wrangle certainly has his work cut out for him. not only because he's been plagued b the cloud of house ethics charges, today he's facing five challengers. although he does have the advantage of a large campaign purse. with investigators still trying to figure out why a gas pipeline exploded in san bruno, california, last week, industry watchdogs are raising the alarm that there are literally thousands of pipelines just like the one that exploded nationwide. aging pop is the problem. the one that exploded in san bruno, killing four and leaving four others missing was more than 50 years old.

critics say utilities aren't willing to spend the money negative to avoid disasters like the one in san bruno. the cost to replace pipe can exceed $50 million. meanwhile, the owner of the pipeline has set aside up to $100 million to help victims recove residents should be getting $50,000 checks this week. and now here is a look at some other stories making news early today" in america. a text bar manager posted surveillance video on facebook of him braking up a robbery to help police catch the burglary suspects. the bar manager fired a single shot, sending the bar robbers fleeing dropping everything on the way, including the keys to their van with the loot inside. in ohio, two people are suffering from injuries when a truck struck a power pole near a bus stop causing a brilliant

flash of light and sparks to fly. witnesses reacted quickly whose conditions are still unknown. the driver of the truck was taken into custody by police. in wisconsin, authorities are investigating what caused a freight train carrying various acids to derail sending cars down an enbankment and others hitting a bridge overpass. fortunately, there were no injuries. damage to the plant was minimal nd there were no leaks. and in texas, 300 galveston residents celebrated the city's recovery from hurricane ike wth a synchronized dance. the flash mob, which included the mayor, gathered in the historic strand district to shake a leg. and though they've sti got a long way to go, organizers say it is important to celebrate the successes along the way. pretty good moves there, too. now for a look at your national and regional weather,

here is bill with a look at your forecast. >> good morning. let's talk hurricane igor. we always show you this satellite vooud view from outer space. this view is from tinter national space station. you casee it as theyly ahead upside down, there's the eye of hurricane igor, impressive from any perspective. winds are now at 140 miles an hour. yesterday it was 150. it still looks impressive. it's finally beginning to take that turn away from the island. so the forecast, the same as yesterday. hasn't really changed. no surprises with this system. due to remain a powerful hurricane for the next three or four days and slowly weaken as it approaches bermuda this upcoming weekend. it is strong eugh that it will send large waef waves to the east coast, but it will never come close with the rain or the wind. that will stay out to sea. as the chiefs were celebrating their victory last night, we still have strong

storms out towards topeka. these will continue as we go throughout the morning. so the forecast, stormy out here in cans this morning. otherwise, it's quiet as can be. beautiful weaher up and down the eastern seaboard. that's a look at your tuesday forecast. now here's a look at the weather outside your window. look at all the sunshine today. gorgeous conditions. a little hotter than we'd like, though, in memphis. still 90s. 92 there. oklahoma city will be near 90. 100 deee heat in phoenix. today, 105. so lynn, this is how we like it. the hurricanes stay away and the weather remains beautiful. there you g bill, that's the good news. thank you. we'll check in with you in a bit. well, stocks rise again. soothing woods from the oracle of omaha. and bling for a great cause. plus, oprah opens up her final season with a bang. a walk-off winner rafael na

dad joins an exclusive club and a football gamethat had just about everything. you're watching "early today."

good morning and welcome back to "eay tod." i'm lynn berry. secretary of state hillary clinton is in egypt this morning to lead a second round of middle east peace talks with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinianat president mahmoud abbas. although isra would not renew a partial building freeze in the west bank, it would not step up construction, either. the u.s. government says i will not pay the prison bail for american hiker sarah shord. iran says it will release on health grounds in exchange for $500,000. earlier yesterday, shourd's family asked to have the bail reduced saying they couldn't

afford . the cuban government says it's planning to lay off at least 500,000 workers in the next six months to help the country's struggling economy. analysts say it's the biggest private sector shift there since he 1959 revolution. health officials are calling it a new global threat, a so-called super bug, thought to be resistant to everynown antibiotic. three people who recently traveled to india. patients in massachusetts, indiana and illinoi have been affected. rescue workers in thailand are assessing the damage after a majo flood caused roads to collapse. several bystanders were seen run to go safety seconds before the road buckled and just washed away. now here is an early look at how wall street will open the day. the dow opens at 10,54 4/after adding 81 points yesterday.

the s&p gained 12 points and the nasdaq climbed 43. taking a look at overseas training this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 22 pointsnd in hong kong t hang seng rose 37. reassurance about the health of the global economy shot stocks up to their hiest level in five weeks monday. markets rallied thanks in part to a deal by globalegulators to boost bank reserves over the next several years to help prevent another worldwide financial crisis. china's economy is still booming, also aing to investors' optimism. hewlett packard is add to go its ever-expansing arsenal of services buying cyber security firm arcsite. elsewhere in corporate deal making, dlar thrifty accepted a bigge buyout offer from rival hertz. shares of both companieshot up, as did rival avis which

stand to profit from one less competitor in the rental market. >> more optimism on the economy yesterday came from warren buffett, speaking at a summit in montana yesterday. the so-called oracle of omaha predicted, quote, we are not going to have a double dip recession. prices at the pum are up sharply in the midwest thanks to a pipeline leak in the chicago area. the average price of unleaded gas there shot up 10 cents a gallon since last week. finally, ann hathaway's ex-boyfriend turned out to be a fraud, but the jewelry he gave her was for real and beginning today, you can bid online for any of the pricey gifts she received from the scammer with proceeds going to his victims. nadal slamm the open, the raiz walk-off against the yankees. plus, the loud talking jets take some hard knocks from the

ravens. your early morning sports headlineare straight ahead. summer-like conditions continue for the half of the country. your early morning headlines are coming up "early today."

good morning. if you're just waking up, this

is "early today." in sports, the nfl opened monday night football with a double dose last night with the first game providing a dazzling display of defense. here is fred roggin. good morning. it was a monday night football header that started with a defensive struggle and ended with a monday night shoot-out. joe flacco simply crushed, sandwiched and fumbled the ball. jets recovered and would get a field goal out of it. the ravens got things going in the second. mcgahee, 7-6 ball game at the half. to the fourth, jets down one. thiwas a physical game. justin california keller, meet ray lewis. two hits down the mdle. keller made the grab, but didn't get the first down. made he heard footsteps after that hit by lewis. the ravens held on to win the opener, 10-9. that was the defense. second quarter, dexter took the punt, made one cut, hit the hole and was off to the races chiefs literally running away

with it, up 21-7 at the half. chargers made it interesting in the third. phillip webe found an opening for the score. sdooes san diego down, 7-14. fourth and goal, rivers' pass fl incomplete. chiefs surprised everyone wi a 21-14 win. baseball had quite a game. rays leap frog the yanks for first place with a 1-0 win. u.s. open men's final, we know rafael nadal is good, but how good? first, he made djokovic do this. moments lake, djokovic decides it's not his feet, tights racket. he was frustrated, but battles to win the second set, nadal's only loss to the tournament. rafael took over from there. djokovic's return is wide. rafael becomes the seventh man

to win at least onetitle from each grand slam dournment. that's a look at your sports on "early today." >> great match. coming one woody allen shoots down rumors about the first lady of france. "early today" headlines are straight ahead. plu a hero on the field. he almt also died on it. now he's making comeback plans. you're watchin"early today."

welcome back.

unless you're in kansas, you have a dry forecast today. there's not a lot of wet weather. it's going to about be beautifu from new york to d.c., boston, atlanta down through florida. very nice in the middle of the country, too. still feels like summer today and tomorrow. wednesday, cooler air ll arrive in minnesota with showers. overall, most of the country is looking for a very quiet weather pattern this week, much like the summer. if you're watching us on wkoh 4, bring your family to the festival in blackwell, all at the blackwelfare grounds. here is a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. a spokes woman for john mayer says he pulled the plug but say because his tour is finished and he's headed back to the studio.

next week, more than a year after his uncomfortable appearance on the late show for david letterman, joaquin phoenix makes a return appearance. it took 2 takes to shoot one cene for his new romantic comedy "midnight in paris." woody allen shoots down reports that she was a diva and that he hired another person to did on redo the scenes. oprah winfrey startser final season on monday. she announced she would be taking her 300 audience members on a seven-day trip to australia in december. this comes to us from kgw news channel 8 in portland, oregon, where one high school footbl player is celebrating his return to the gridiron. hayward loves football with all his heart. bit was his heart that almost

took it all away. after scoring a touchdown in a recent game, he had a heart attack. fortunately, a cardiac nurse was in the stan and brought him back to life on the field. he's set to have surgery soon, but doctors say he'll be back to playing football next year. can you believe that, bill it's remarkable. >> it looks like there's a big crowd there. she's doing cpr on the field, people are just-- and then she saves him. >> absolutely. it's amazing. good luck to him. i'm lynn berry, and this is "ear today," today on your nbc station.

4:28 our time right now. 68 degrees. 67 degrees make that. a lovely way to begin a tuesday in the nation's capital. >> welcome to news 4 today for septber 14th, 2010. voters in the district head to the polls today. building day to decide whether mayor adrian fenty will remain in office. he is facing a tough challenge from vincent gray who leads fenty in most of the polls. the race from outside the wilson building, washington. >> as music blairs, votrs at a block crowd claim to put fenty back in office come election

day. >> south side, uptown. >> this was the last night to rally residen to vote in the primary. for fenty it was about energizing young people. he's upbeat even though he's down in the polls. >> i think what you're seeing from all eight wards is people understand way more good has happenedn the city than bad. we'll learn from whatever mistakes we made and do a better job next time. >> challenger gray is hoping there won't be a next time. he says he's getting more than just the anti-fenty vote. in the nearly six months we ave run this campaign i have heard people actually transition to another place. they say, well, i really support him. >> four more years. >> no more years. >> it's been a battle.